A word of warning, if you follow this recipe you will need to flambé the brandy at the start.

To make sure your flambé doesn’t turn into a flaming disaster, follow these tips:

• Use long fireplace matches or a long gas cooker/ barbecue lighter to light the fumes of the alcohol at the edge of the pan, not the brandy itself.

• Be prepared for a sudden ‘whoosh’ of flames and stand back accordingly, making sure to avert your face.

• Once lit, do not pour any brandy straight from the bottle to the hot pan. The lit fumes can follow the liquor stream back to the bottle and cause an explosion.

One last tip: Someone recently asked me what ‘reducing’ a sauce means, which I mention quite a lot in this video.

Quite simply, it’s the act of boiling or simmering a liquid until it reduces through evaporation.

This helps to concentrate and intensify the flavours of the sauce while also making it thicker.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, as ever I would love to hear your feedback.

Recipe

• 1 tsp of cracked black pepper

• 3 tsp of green peppercorns in brine

• 1 tsp of pink peppercorns

• 1⁄2 tsp mustard

• 100ml brandy

• 1 bay leaf

• 1⁄4 pint of beef stock/jus

• 1⁄4 pint double cream

Method

1. Bring a dry pan up to a high heat and throw in the cracked black pepper. Let the pepper toast in the pan for a few minutes.

2. Next add the brandy, give it a stir and light the fumes (take care at this point and use the notes above) with a long match or gas cooker/barbecue lighter to burn off the alcohol. Continue to reduce the brandy until the flames have gone.

3. Next add the mustard and begin to stir whilst continually reducing the sauce.

4. Pour in the beef stock/jus (at this point the sauce should be boiling).

5. Add the bay leaf, green and pink peppercorns to the pan, and continue to reduce.